Lee Fehler candidate for Steinbach City Council has made the issues of crime and addictions and the fighting of the causes of it a part of his platform. Fehler believes there is some correlation between crime and addictions and also states that fighting addiction can reduce crime and benefits our community as a whole. He also believes that City Council can help address some of the causes of addiction as well as providing the resources to help those affected and involved in the issue in the community.
Fehler says that “we have many great resources in our community to combat this issue. Fighting addictions in our city requires a grassroots movement and it is important that Steinbach City Council acknowledges and addresses addictions. Working with groups like the Steinbach Drug Task Force and other groups should be supported by City Council.”
Fehler was able to speak with Shannon Moffatt an addictions councilor in Steinbach who said that she “would be happy to come in to Council to give a presentation regarding the most common substances I am seeing used in the region.” Fehler adds that “having Council work with people like Shannon and the Steinbach Drug Task Force would go a long way in addressing addictions in Steinbach. This would be a great starting point in making significant gains on the issue for the community as a whole.”
Lee Fehler was also able to speak with Jon Plaisier another addictions councilor from Steinbach. Plaisier said that “combating addictions requires three steps. Prevention programs, primary treatment programs, and after treatment programs or tertiary programs.” Fehler adds that it is important we speak with community stakeholders to see where our resources are needed and where City Council can help.
In fighting addictions it is also important for City Council to address some of the causes of addiction. Fehler says we should try to “tackle some of the issues that fuel addictions in our city like affordable housing, poverty, hunger issues, providing youth with affordable recreation programs, and after school programs. It is also important that we put the bulk of our resources into data proven programs rather than other ‘popular’ programs with notoriously high failure rates.” Fehler summarizes that as a growing city Steinbach is also experiencing a growth in crime and addictions. It is important that we do not ignore these issues as doing so only exacerbates the problem.
